The hunter who took this buck has quite a story to tell — and it's not just that he killed a very big buck. That's because he was hunting from his buddy's stand — a friend who could not hunt on this particular opening day because it also happened to be his wedding day! Being the good friend he was, the groom gave the OK to hunt from his stand. Besides asking the obvious question, "Who gets married on opening day?" one hunter also observed that the whole affair really "poured salt in the wound."

Nothing like starting a marriage off on the right note. 

Congratulations — to both the groom ... and his successful friend.

Don Thiel, hunting with his son Dean, took this buck north of Waupaca, Wisconsin, on the last Saturday of the 2008 firearms season with a muzzleloader. The shot presented itself after Thiel was preparing to leave for the morning and decided to try some still-hunting on his property. The tactic worked. Writes Don:

"We had planned on hunting until noon. I sat in my tower stand overlooking the back field until mid-morning. I only saw one deer all morning, and it was in the big field. We had planned that I would make a small one-man drive down to a gravel pit on our property and swing back toward Dean, who was sitting in the stand by the cabin.

"Earlier, Dean had shot at two does through thick brush in the hollow below his stand. I walked some pines toward him, seeing nothing. Then I moseyed along a fence line, cutting back into the thick  underbrush to see if he had hit either of the does he shot at earlier. I was half way through the hollow, and within 35 yards of this buck, when he jumped up. It was fortunate that he stopped in a little poplar stand about 50 yards away. Following the shot from my muzzleloader, he went down. The bullet hit him just above the ribs and slammed into the far-side front shoulder. I knew with all the thick blackberry brush I couldn't walk up on him because if he got up I wouldn't be able to see him.
 
"Dean got down from his stand and walked around to the North side of the hollow. He approached the spot where the deer was laying and got to within 40 yards of the buck. The deer jumped up, again, and Dean shot at him twice, hitting him in the chest. I got off another shot as well and hit him on the other side. Down he went.

"It took about an hour to get him out of the thick brush.
 
"It is hard to believe that this deer would stay lying in the hollow all morning — especially given that Dean shot twice at doe in this area. In hindsight, we believe the buck came in and bedded down before sunrise — because Dean could see the entire area where we initially jumped him."

Congrats, Don!

This buck was reportedly taken somewhere near Waupaca, Wisconsin. No details were forthcoming on the deer or hunter, but it's safe to assume most hunters would consider this buck a "shooter." Most impressive is the fact that the deer was taken with a smokepole. The Dairy State's muzzleloader season runs through Wednesday, December 10, 2008 and hunters still have a good shot at taking mature bucks like this — and many are out trying to do just that in the wake of the season's largest snowstorm.

This car-struck buck, wounded near Kaukauna, Wisconsin, was put out of its misery by a Kaukauna police officer. Details weren't available as to who ended up with the rack, or whether the venison was donated.

Submitted by Corey Graff, Online Editor

Have you ever heard a Duran-Duran or Tears for Fears song crank up on the radio and immediately feel like you've been transported back through time — back to the 1980s? I think they call that an "'80s moment."

Today I experienced an '80s moment while putting some finishing touches on the Deer & Deer Hunting 30-year Compilation CD soon to be released. That's because I stumbled across the ad you see below from the 1986 December issue of D&DH for the "Chair Pack." That mis-matched duck camo, green sleeping bag, and early-style compound bow really screams 1986. Even the concept seems 80s — something as simple as a chair. The ad takes a person back to the days when the deer hunting industry was beginning to gain steam and new companies were springing up, eager to jump on the bandwagon with accessories to help hunters bag their buck.

It's interesting to reflect upon a product that is essentially a chair and backpack, when viewed backwards through time from a place in history when lightweight treestands and ultra-high-tech pop-up ground blinds are the standard fare.

And you won't catch a hunter in any ad today wearing mis-matched camo.

It was a less scientific time, for sure, when deer hunters walked into the woods and plunked down on a deer trail, waiting for a shot that was sure to come sooner or later. The longer you waited, the more your odds went up. And to wait longer, one needed to be comfy. Thus, a chair.

Seeing an ad like this — and getting that '80s feeling — makes a person want to go back to those good 'ol days, when deer hunting seemed simpler. Part of me would gladly swap the times, since it seemed like there was less pressure to shoot big bucks in those days and more energy was expended on simply having fun. But then again, that view — no doubt through rose-colored glasses  — falls apart when one asks the more pressing question: Good grief, comfy or not, who could stand the music?